


Statue of Ice

by Erikthonius



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Meet the Family, Nico meets Naomi, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Will has a type
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-11
Updated: 2018-10-11
Packaged: 2019-07-29 14:44:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16266356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Erikthonius/pseuds/Erikthonius
Summary: Will can't quite tell Nico how he feels, so Naomi does it for him.





	Statue of Ice

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote a little love song.

Mail call at Camp Half Blood. Will Solace looked at the fat packet from his mother. Doubtless it contained news of her latest tour as well as her usual letter. He enjoyed hearing from his mother; they’d always gotten along well, in spite of the fact that, since he’d come to camp, they hardly got to see each other any more. He wrote to her when he could, the letters getting a bit more frequent since the recent ‘development’ in his life. He’d even Iris messaged her a few times. He envied his mother’s ability to take everything, from the chaotic life of a constantly touring musician to the stress of having a demigod son, in perfect stride. He, himself, managed to project the same calm, laid-back exterior, projecting the soothing demeanor that everyone expected of the head counsellor of the Apollo cabin and the chief of the camp’s infirmary, but inside, he’d always been such a wreck...until recently.

Recently, the most wonderful thing had happened; something that, even in a lifetime filled with gods and miracles and unbelievable events as a daily part of life, he could never have imagined happening. The boy he’d been crushing on for as long he could remember, the most beautiful boy he’d ever seen, the hero who’d saved the Camp and the whole world, that boy was his boyfriend! 

His boyfriend! Nico di Angelo was his boyfriend. The thought made him shiver with joy. He loved Nico. He loved everything about Nico, the way he looked, the way he smelled, his soft, musical voice, that pouty glare he could do so well, the way he felt… yes, after such a slow beginning, the shy Italian boy was finally opening up to their being physical together, just a little bit, but it felt so good! Just kissing and holding hands.

At the same time, although Will had no trouble showing physical affection, he found that he had trouble putting his feelings into words. He knew that sometimes Nico would give him these looks that said, “What do you see in me?” and Will wanted to launch into speeches, into songs, into sonnets, into anything but haikus (the Apollo cabin had a reputation for making the worst haikus), but he could never put all of the feelings he had into words. Fortunately, the Italian seemed to be content with smiles and covert kisses for the present.

Will forced himself back into reality. There was a letter from his mother in his hand. He should read it. It was probably just idle news, they’d exchanged plenty of letters like that. The extra thickness of the envelope was probably just concert fliers and press clippings. He certainly enjoyed hearing about his mother’s career and exploits just as much as she liked hearing what he was up to (minus the life-threatening bits, of course). He started to read the letter that he’d taken from the envelope and paused when he saw what was right at the top of the page:

“Will, darling, we’ll be doing a show this Friday on Long Island not far from your camp. I really want you to come, and YOU’D BETTER BRING THAT BOY I’VE BEEN HEARING SO MUCH ABOUT!! Love, mom.”

He flinched, ever so slightly. He knew that when his mother took that tone, even in writing, that he’d better do as she said. There was one problem. He loved everything about Nico di Angelo, but the smaller boy was so shy, so leery of any public sign of their relationship. Of course, considering what it must’ve been like to be gay in the 1930’s, no wonder the kid refused any and all PDAs. Their relationship in private was well past the chaste kiss on the cheek stage, but whenever someone, even their closest friends, was around, Nico would pull away like his hands had been burned, with that adorable blush creeping up his cheeks. Will was sure his boyfriend would not want to meet his mother, especially at a concert.

Still, the more he thought about it, the more he realized that this was just what they needed to do, go on a date in a public place, not just sneak off to the back of the infirmary to make out. And Nico would see that people would be accepting of them as a couple; Will knew his mom and her crew were fine with their being gay, for gods’ sake! He’d tried to come out to his mother when he was only ten, and she just laughed and hugged him and said, “Oh, darling, we’ve known that since you were about five.” (He wasn’t sure how they knew, but he could tell from their faces that it wasn’t any big deal, that they were fine with that.) 

Sure enough, his mom had included a flier and a pair of tickets, which fluttered out of the envelope just as his half-sister, Kayla walked into the cabin. She strode over and inspected the flier and tickets that had fallen onto his bed. “So, Will, I see your mom is coming through on tour. I don’t suppose there’s any chance that…”

“Not to worry, Kayla,” he replied, anticipating her question. “I’ll get another pair of tickets.” Then an idea struck him. “You know, if he’d be willing give us a ride to the concert, I could probably score some VIP parking and maybe even a little meet and greet.”

“You are just the best!” she said, giving him a little peck on the cheek, and skipping out of the room happily.

“Now I just have to convince the Prince of Grumpy Darkness to meet my mom,” thought Will.

He started with “Let’s go on a date.” That was met with the barest lift of an eyebrow, a good sign. Encouraged, he said, “There’s this concert we could go to. It’s not your regular music, but I know you’ll like it.” This was not a lie; he’d played some of his mother’s songs for Nico, and the dark Italian actually made copies of his favorites (on the sly, of course). 

“Hmmph.” was the wave of eloquence in response. Another good sign, so Will took the plunge.

“My mom’s band is playing this Friday, and she sent me tickets...and she kind of said she’d really like to meet you”

Nico just looked down at the floor and began to pout. Will pressed on with no small amount of wheedling, begging, reasoning, whining, threatening, pleading, and the biggest set of puppy dog eyes the son of Apollo had ever managed. Even then, his boyfriend’s sulking persisted. Of course the sulking just cranked up the blond’s attempts to, as he put it, “kiss that pout away.”

That didn’t go so well, but at least it made his boyfriend try to reason his way out. Nico started with “You know I can’t be in crowds.”

“We have reserved seats in a private box.”

“How will we get there? I know you won’t let me shadow travel, and Jules-Albert is on leave this week.” (something about Le Mans)

“I’ve got it covered.” Will responded, trying to muster an enigmatic grin. “I think you’re clutching at straws. What’s really bothering you?”

Nico looked down again and mumbled.

“Nico,” Will said, leaning forward to touch the other boy’s cheek very lightly. “Are you worried about meeting my mom?”

“A little, maybe,” he murmured.

Will drew the other boy in close and said softly, “You don’t have to worry, she’ll love you, you’ll see.”

“Hmmph.” And that was as much assent as Will could hope for.

===============  
Friday. 

Will had not said a word about how they were getting to this concert, and Nico was not looking pleased at being led about, none the wiser. They walked past the entrance of Camp Half Blood to the road, keeping an eye out for the assorted monsters that frequented the area around the camp, but none were to be seen. Apparently, they’d learned to keep clear of short Italian demi-gods bearing Stygian iron swords.

There was a jeep parked on the road with two very trim, very military looking men in the front seat. One was in marine fatigues, and the other, well there was something familiar looking about him, especially the close cropped red hair, but Nico couldn’t for the life of him figure out if he’d ever seen the man before. He seemed to know Will, however, and the blond camper called out to him. 

“Hey, Mr, Knowles.”

“Knowles,” thought Nico. Where had he heard the name before?

“Come on, Will,” replied the redhead. “Call me Darrin. Especially after getting us these passes. I’m looking forward to seeing your mom perform. You know, I’ve had a crush on her for years.” He winked at Will when he said that, but the man in the driver’s seat snorted.

“That is one sentence I’ll never hear out of your mouth again! ‘I’ve had a crush on her…’” The driver put a stress on the word ‘her.’ “Of course, after all this time, I still can’t figure out how you managed to father Kayla. I love the girl like she was my own, but I still can’t wrap my head around you and any woman…”

Nico’s eyes grew wide. He knew that Kayla was Will’s half-sister, so her father, like his, was Apollo, but this man, apparently was, somehow, also Kayla’s dad. His brain was not processing this, but Darrin Knowles continued.

“Sorry for my lack of manners, boys. The abusive piece of trash at the wheel is Corporal Andrew McKinney, also known as my better half for the last ten years. Also, Naomi Solace’s number two fanboy, just behind me.” At this, the two men leaned together for a brief, but affectionate kiss.

Nico’s jaw dropped. He was definitely not used to seeing other gay men, especially ones so at ease about it. Will introduced him to the men in the front seat as the two boys got into the vehicle and they started off on the way to the concert. On the drive, Darrin told the boys about how he and Andrew started dating, being drawn together by, among other things, a love of Naomi Solace’s music.

“So how long have you two been together?” asked Andrew. When Nico started to mumble, the marine laughed and said, “You don’t have to be shy around the two of us, obviously.” To emphasize the point, he reached over and took Darrin’s hand in his.

Will, seeing his boyfriend’s discomfort, took the initiative by saying that they’d known each other for a few years but had just started dating a few months ago. He also said that his mom wanted them to come backstage at intermission, and asked the older men if they’d like to come along. That pleased them no end, and the for rest of the drive, he and Nico got some good laughs about seeing two grown men turned into fanboys.

==============

On their way in, while Andrew was distracted, Darrin leaned over and told Will, “I actually met your mother once, when I first brought Kayla to camp. Herb introduced us.” 

Will smiled at that. Herb was the satyr who’d conducted him to Camp Half Blood. Apparently, he’d done the same for Kayla.

“Your mom was great at coming up with a cover story about sending Kayla to camp. I love Andrew with all my heart, but he just can’t see through the Mist, and I needed to convince him, since he and I do share custody of Kayla.”

==============

Nico had to admit, he was enjoying the concert. Thanks to the passes Will had, they didn’t have to go into the front of the theater, where the crowds would’ve made Nico very unhappy indeed. It wasn’t just that he was shy, but with that many people around, it increased the chances that there was someone who was closer to dying than they probably knew, and Nico would’ve felt it. In the same way, all the little illnesses, the aches and pains that people walked around with, tended to affect Will, especially in crowds this size, so both of them tended to stay away from large gatherings like that.

He also enjoyed the music. Alt-country was not his thing as a rule, but there was something about Naomi Solace. Well, mostly it was how much of Will he could see in her. Also, after the first few numbers, which were about love and betrayal and growing up poor, there was a song that made him smile.

“This next song is a little off the beaten path, but I learned it from someone very precious to me,” announced the singer. Will, knowing what was coming, flushed a bit at those words.

Hear me, you who posses deep-wooded Helicon,  
fair-armed daughters of Zeus the magnificent!  
Fly to beguile with your accents your brother, golden-tressed Phoebus who, on the twin peak of this rock of Parnassus, escorted by illustrious maidens of Delphi,  
sets out for the limpid streams of Castalia, traversing,  
on the Delphic promontory, the prophetic pinnacle.

Nico knew that this was a version of one of the Orphic hymns that Will had sung to him while he was in the infirmary, struggling to regain his health and solidity after nearly dying from the ordeal of transporting the Athena Parthenos halfway around the world and continuing the war against Gaea. He leaned close to Will and savored the feel of his boyfriend’s arms around him. Naomi Solace sang it in English instead of the ancient Greek that Will had crooned for him so many times as he lay in the infirmary, but it still made him feel warm and whole. Then she finished the first half with a rollicking song about the mother of a newly married girl, first imploring the girl’s new mother-in-law to be kind to her and then warning the mother-in-law that the daughter was quite capable of holding her own if it came to that. 

Nico still wasn’t quite ready to get up from nestling so close to Will, but the blond boy stood up, pulling him to his feet and saying, “Intermission. Time to go backstage for the meet and greet. Let’s go, fanboys.” he added to Andrew and Darrin.

===============

Nico was not comfortable. That was putting it mildly. At first he told himself, “You’re being ridiculous! You are Nico di Angelo, you are the Ghost King. You faced down Minos, you sassed Kronos, you rallied the troops of the Underworld, for Hades sake! You braved Tartarus, you brought the Athena Parthenos halfway around the world to save Camp Half Blood, you even faced down your jealous step-mother and survived being turned into a dandelion. What was so hard about meeting one little folk singer?” But then, he thought, “But it’s Will’s mother! What if she doesn’t like me? What if she says I corrupted her son?” 

His discomfort only got worse when they got to the entrance to the backstage area. There it started. Apparently, Naomi Solace had kept the same band and crew for over a decade. Of course every one of them knew Will and greeted him like a family member. Then, when he would introduce Nico, they all responded with some variation on “Ah, the boyfriend.” That was bad enough, but they all seemed to be snickering about something. He started looking for a shadow to slip into, but his boyfriend recognized his intent and decided to seize his hand in what would have been an affectionate grip if it weren’t as firm as a manacle. The two older men with them were no help. As soon as they got backstage, they lost all their military bearing and just gawked like starstruck teenage girls. Nico silently prayed that they wouldn’t start giggling.

“Don’t worry, babe. They all love you,” the blond whispered into his ear, but somehow it didn’t really settle his nerves, especially when a woman with a walkie-talkie strapped to her belt came up to them. The woman’s no-nonsense air somehow made him think of Reyna, but then she grabbed Will in a fierce hug, tearing him away from Nico.

“Annie!” cried Will with glee. “Nico, this is Annie, she’s been my mom’s manager since before I was born. Annie, this is Nico.”

The woman responded, “Damn, Little Willie! Not so little any more” (“Little Willie?” thought Nico. That could be useful later.) “When did you get so tall? I haven’t seen you in forever. And this is Nico, huh? Can’t say I’m surprised, really.” Her tone was affectionate, but there was that damned smirk that everybody seemed to put on when they saw him. 

Annie led the party into the main dressing room, a sumptuous suite. She gestured to a doorway at and said, “Willie, your ma is just freshening up, but go on in. I know how much she wants to see her baby boy.”

“No.” said a voice from beyond the doorway. “I want to talk to Nico first. In private.” The voice was rich, but the tone was stern, brooking no denial. Will gestured to his boyfriend indicating that he should go in. He was smiling, but Nico could see the uncertainty in those brilliant blue eyes. Nevertheless, he moved through the doorway.

Naomi Solace was seated, brushing her long, rich mane of honey-blonde hair, but her back was to the doorway, so Nico couldn’t see her face yet when she began to speak to him.

“I know what you’ve done with my son,” she began. “I know what you’ve done to him.”

Nico flinched, somewhat afraid of her words. He’d faced down angry Titans and a crazed Earth Goddess, but his boyfriend’s mother?!? He looked down at the floor, trying to mumble some apology.

She turned around and got up slowly, moving toward him. Her face was unmoving. “He has a smile and a kind word for everyone, they all think he’s happy all the time. But I’m his mother. I know how many tears he’s cried for every one of the friends he tried to save and couldn’t. He never let anyone else see, but we both know what he never showed anyone else. Since you’ve come into his life, I can feel how truly happy he is, even when he’s faced his own losses. You have been the most wonderful gift a mother could ask for. You’ve done so much to make my son so happy, you’ve healed his poor heart…” With those words, her face blossomed into a warm smile.

Nico looked up in surprise, these last words now registering. Naomi Solace reached toward him but then stopped herself.

“I know you’re not much of a hugger, especially with some crazy old lady you just met.” She smiled at that last bit, and then continued, a more serious expression on her face. “My boy has told me a lot about you, how you lost your family, all the battles you’ve fought. I can’t take the place of your mother, but if you ever, ever need some mothering, know that for what you’ve done for my boy, my door and my heart will always be open to you.”

This outpouring floored Nico for a moment, but he seemed to relax a little. Naomi took this as a cue to lead him back into the other room, where everyone was waiting. She turned to Annie and asked “Is Joey on his way? He really wanted to say hi to Will.”

“Joey is our stage manager. He’ll be in as soon as he’s got the second half squared away,” Annie explained. “Willie (every time someone used that childhood nickname, Will flinched, ever so slightly. Nico was going to get so much mileage out of that) used to follow him around so much he called Willie his shadow. He had such a crush on Joey.”

“It did make your coming out a little obvious,” his mother said with that warm Solace smile.

With that, a man came into the dressing room and exclaimed, “It’s the little dude! My shadow’s got so big.”

Obviously, this was Joey. Suddenly the smirks made sense. Joey was about 5”2, thin as a rail, with olive skin and a mop of thick black hair shot through with silver. Nico also noticed a bit of a familiar accent. So, Will had a type.

The man saw Nico and turned to him, hand extended. Normally, Nico was not one for handshakes, but manners won out.

“Joey Mancuso. You must be Shadow’s boyfriend.”

“Nico di Angelo,” he replied.

“A paisan’? Shadow shows good taste”

On a wicked impulse, Nico asked, “Di dove sei?” [Where are you from?]

Joey smiled at that. “Roma, e tu?” [Rome. What about you?]

Nico replied, “Venezia.”

Joey came back with, “Pensavo di aver riconosciuto l'accento. Guarda l'Ombra! È così rosso.” [I thought I recognized the accent. Look at Shadow! He’s so red.]

The two Italians laughed. Poor Will couldn’t stop blushing. Nico knew what the sound of his mother tongue did to his boyfriend, and to have both his boyfriend and his childhood crush chattering away in it must be driving the boy crazy. Their mirth was interrupted by the appearance of a shimmering light. Someone was sending them an Iris message.

The two demigods noted who was aware of the message and who ignored it. While most mortals were unable to see through the Mist and so weren’t even aware of the Iris message, there were those who could. It was no surprise that both Darrin and Naomi had that gift, since that was one of the things that attracted the divine attention that resulted in demigods being born, but both boys were surprised to see that Joey Mancuso was looking at the glowing image that resolved itself into the form of Chiron.

“Much as I hate to interrupt your evening out,” the centaur began, “I’m hoping that you boys can get back to camp soon. I’m afraid I just received word that a van carrying some wounded Roman legionnaires is on the way to camp. They should be arriving in about half an hour. Would it be possible for you to get back by then?”

“I don’t think we could really do that,” said Darrin. “At this point the roads are going to pretty jammed up on a Friday night.”

“Will, I could shadow travel us there. I’ve been doing a lot better, and it’s not that far a trip,” Nico put in.

His boyfriend didn’t look to pleased at that, but this was kind of an emergency, especially as relations with Camp Jupiter were still fairly new, so he nodded in assent, and before he could start mother henning, Nico had already said, “I know, I know, I’ll spend the night in the infirmary.” They both ignored the smirks that got from the adults.

“Well, seeing as you’ll be able to get there so quickly, I hope you’ll stay for the first song on the second half. It’s something I really want you both to hear” Naomi said. She was smiling warmly as she said it, but there was something in her tone that suggested that ‘I hope’ meant ‘you’d better.’ Nico could see where Will got his stubbornness from.

With that, Annie came over and told them that it was time to get ready for the second half. She showed no sign of having witnessed the vision of a centaur appearing in the middle of the dressing room. Joey, on the other hand, gaped a little bit at the boys.

“You and me gotta have a little chiacchierare [chat] sometime, paisan’. I knew Shadow was special, but I wanna hear more about this,’ he said to Nico before heading back to the control booth.

As they headed back to their seats, Darrin leaned over to the boys and whispered, “Don’t worry, I’ll come up with a cover story for Andrew. I hate to lie to him, but I’ve had to do it before when Kayla had to take off on some ‘special’ business.”

By the time they’d settled back down, the band had just come back onto the stage.  
When the applause died down, Naomi Solace addressed the audience. 

“Welcome back. I’d like to begin the second half with something brand new.” That elicited some excited whoops from the crowd.

“Sometimes,” she continued, “a most wonderful gift comes into your life. You get something so wonderful that words aren’t even enough. But when you get a gift, you just have to say thanks. This is my way of doing that.”

She strummed a chord and began to sing.

You came down like a gift from the sun,  
And I hoped you’d smile on me.  
But your journey had just begun,  
And your eyes were too fixed on the sea.

Nico stiffened. No wonder she had wanted him to hear this song.

From the first time I saw you, you filled me with light,  
Your smile was a joy to behold  
Then hard fate threw you deep into the night  
And to save yourself you grew so cold.

Will was blushing furiously. Gods! His mother had written a love song to his boyfriend!

They called you a statue of ice, statue of ice,  
So cold and foreboding, no one would think twice  
To look past that mask that you needed to wear  
To keep out the pain that was all yours to bear.

You wandered through shadows to recover your past,  
The road you walked was flanked by betrayal  
You kept your secrets and held to them fast,  
But your courage and kindness was never to fail

They looked at you and thought you could no longer feel  
The ache in your heart, that you’d never be whole.  
But your strength and your courage have taught me to heal.  
And your calm cool is the balm for my poor burning soul

You are my statue of ice, statue of ice  
My pillar of fire, my pearl of great price.  
Never more broken, and never more alone,  
You’re my treasure, my hero, my heart, and my home.

As the song ended, Will looked over to his boyfriend. The other’s head was down so that his eyes couldn’t be seen and his face couldn’t be read. 

“We have to go now,” he said, almost in a whisper.

Will reached his hand out so that Nico could pull him into the shadows, but instead of just tugging his hand, the smaller boy grabbed him and pulled him into a tight hug, and said softly as the shadows drew them in, “Thank you so much.”


End file.
